Dr. Capt. Qamar Abad joined Pakistan Marine Academy Karachi in January 1975 for pre sea training after passing his (B. Sc.) Bachelor’s degree (Gordon College Rawalpindi) from Punjab University. On completion of Pre Sea training, joined Pakistan Shipping Corporation (PSC) in 1976 as Deck cadet, which subsequently merged with National Shipping Corporation (NSC) in 1979 and named Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC).

While serving on board merchant ships, he went through various professional examinations for certificates of competency and finally obtained his Certificate of Competency as Class-1 Master Mariner in February, 1989. He served in reputed national and foreign shipping companies for 30 years in different capacities. He was promoted as Master/Captain in July, 1991. His commands on merchant ships include ships owned/managed by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) Tehran- Iran, Sterling Ship-management Piraeus- Greece, Pacific Ship-management Kuala Lumpur- Malaysia, and others. He has served on board a variety of ships including General Cargo ships, Container ships, Combination (container & general cargo) ships, Bulk carriers of various sizes including Panamax class ships.

At the zenith of his sea career, he adjusted his sails and made a rare, rather unprecedented alteration of course to legal profession. The new destiny proved the one dreamt. He passed his LL. B in 2005, LL. M in 2008 and Ph. D in 2018. His Doctorate thesis on “Development and Exercise of Maritime Laws with Special Reference to Admiralty Jurisdiction in Pakistan” has been highly appreciated by Maritime and legal experts both at home and abroad. The thesis was evaluated by universities in Denmark and South Carolina (SC), USA. Dr. Jur. Birgit Feldtmann from Department of Law Aaborg University, Denmark, the examiner, called it ‘a substantial piece of academic work, clearly structured that deals with a large range of relevant legal issues in the field of maritime law/law of the sea. It demonstrates a substantial knowledge in connection with a wide range of legal questions in the field of maritime law/law of the sea that deal quite convincingly with the complex issues raised, and with its legal analysis providing in its sum new valuable knowledge in the field of maritime law/law of the sea”. Dr. Steve L. Morton Ph. D NOAA National Ocean Service, Charleston, SC 29412 USA the examiner, found it fascinating and that he actually learned many items about maritime law.

He started his legal profession in Civil with specialty in Maritime and Admiralty laws with a reputed law firm at Karachi in 2006. Opportunity of handling high profile and complex Maritime and Admiralty cases maintained the course of adventurous sailing. In January 2015, University of Karachi offered him to teach law (full time) LL. B and LL. M courses which continued till June 2019. He has been teaching variety of courses including Laws of Contracts, Interpretation of Statutes, Transfer of Property, Jurisprudence, Laws of Evidence, Shipping and admiralty Laws. He has been teaching MBA Maritime classes at NCMPR, Bahria University Karachi since 2009 and Business & Commercial laws at Karachi University Business School (KUBS) in the year 2018.

Marine surveys, Operations at container terminal and Correspondent P & I (Protection and Indemnity Insurance Clubs) also appear in his credit. He has been appointed head of ‘KPT Chair’ in June 2019 as Maritime Expert in National Institute of Maritime Affairs (NIMA)/National Centre for Maritime Policy Research (NCMPR) at Bahria University, Karachi Campus.